Energy Islands at the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (NL) during Systems of Support 2026. Photo: Miriam Sentler

This work was developed during residencies with the EARTH Scholarship in Shetland and Orkney (UK) and during fieldwork connected to PhD Research at the University of Oslo (NO)

Thanks to Marjan van Oeffelt, Anthonia Thomas, Dan Lee, Daniel Clark, Jon Pulley, Wouter Osterholt, Anna Tudos, Daniel Shailer and Saskia van Stein




The project is generously funded by IABR, Mondriaan Fonds &
the Earth Scholarship (British Research Council) 

     

(2026) Tapestry, 350 x 175 cm. Jacquard weave, merino wool and cotton. Produced in collaboration with the TextileLab, the professional workplace of the Textielmuseum Tilburg.

Energy Islands is the third part of a triptych of tapestries depicting the relationships between the energy industry and mythology within diverse production landscapes. Inspired by the anecdotal and symbolic imagery of medieval tapestries — and the political significance they often carried — Sentler developed a series of colorful works that make weighty themes such as climate change and the energy transition understandable to a broad audience in a playful and accessible way. Even children can thus be introduced to the issues that characterize our time.


Based on research and fieldwork that Sentler conducted on Orkney and Shetland in 2024 and 2025, the work connects hopeful stories about a green energy future with the ecological and cultural consequences of the wind energy industry in the Scottish peatlands. Central to the work is the mythical history of the island cultures living among the windmills, placing particular emphasis on holistic and small-scale forms of land use. In the tapestry, the public is introduced to local myths about wind witches and stories about gold treasures discovered by poor farmers while cutting peat, but also to bog bodies and foundational myths about the origin of the islands and the world at large, such as the Mester Stoor Worm myth. As a whole, the tapestry shows how storytelling contributes to a sense of connection and community across the island cultures.